cat food/kibble help?

[sesa70]

When I posted a help thread for my new dog, everyone was so amazingly helpful, thank you! I thought it would be a good idea to slowly transition all my pets to a better food.

My cat, Stella, is around 9-10 years old. I got her spring of 2002 and she was an older kitten (9 months to possibly a year +).

She is currently overweight. She has been for many years. I have had her on Nutro Max indoor weight management formula for a few years.

She is NOT active at all, that could be due to the dogs in the house, but mostly she sleeps all the time :)

She also has a very senitive stomach and throws up ALOT. In the past anytime I have tried to even switch the flavor of her food she has been throwing up everywhere. I can't give her treats, meat/fish, or canned cat food for the same reasons.

Admittedly I do not know too much about cats nutrional needs, but in researching dog food I realized I was not giving my pets the best I could. I would like to find something more appropriate for my cat.

I know there are many benefits to raw feeding,b ut I do not feel up to the challenge :) I also cannot spend a ton of money per bag. Any suggestions that you could provide would be MUCH appreciated!

[greenmagick]

Cats should be on grain free for sure and wet food is much better for them, or at the very least a mix of dry and canned.

[sesa70]

I am bumping this back up because I am really hoping for some suggestions! I went to our local feed store today, and they suggested Fromm gold senior food. They even gave me a free sample bag of it. Is this something anyone is familiar with?

If not, what are some other higher quality kibble options? Is taste of the wild too rich for an older less active kitty? What about some of the blue buffalo formulas?

I called our vet and asked, and they said Purina or Science diet... I know those are not the best out there, and these guys are cat only vets!

I had no idea about the wet food, as soon as I get her on a better quality kibble I will start trying to mix in some wet food for her at every meal.

I would love to hear what some of you feed your kitties!

[greenmagick]

Good ones are acana, orijen, taste of the wild, instinct, evo....and there are others as well.  

[sesa70]

so ideally would a cat's entire diet be wet food? Would that be good for their teeth, or would they need something more abrasive to remove some of the tartar?

What are some good canned foods?

 

Originally Posted by greenmagick 

Cats should be on grain free for sure and wet food is much better for them, or at the very least a mix of dry and canned.

Does anyone have any good websites on cat nutrion or any sites that rate cat food?
 

[greenmagick]

yes, ideally a cats entire diet would be wet...or better yet raw:)

Kibble really isnt abrasive enough to clean teeth.  THat used to be the reason to use it but all the recent things I have seen say its false.  It would be like expecting crackers to clean our teeth.

[NikonMama]

Do you have a Costco near you?  Costco's brand Kirkland's Best Adult formula cat food is a great food!  It has good limited ingredients, no by products, and it only cost $15 for a 25lb bag!  That is what we feed all of our cats, and it has been great for them!  Otherwise Wellness Core, Blue Buffalo, Solid Gold Indigo Moon(what I used to feed my cats, another great food!), and Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers Soul are all good foods.

If a change in food makes your cat vomit, just switch it VERY VERY gradually, and she should be okay.  Even if you have to do it a few kibbles at a time.  lol   

[sesa70]

Thank you, we do have a Costco nearby, I will have to give their food a try!

I have gotten some samples of taste of the wild cat, and I also purchased a few cans of cat food to try.

About canned:

I got her weruva and she won't eat it! It looked and smelled pretty good to me :) She just licked the liquidy part and left all the meat.

Does anyone have some suggestions of good canned food, so that I can try a few options and see what she will like?

[greenmagick]

I use TOTW, EVO, and Instinct canned.  I have use weruva before and my cats werent too impressed, though my friends cats will only eat that lol

[NikonMama]

Originally Posted by sesa70 She just licked the liquidy part and left all the meat.

One of my cats does that unless I buy pate only style.  If there are any chunks she won't eat the chunks, just the gravy.  I mash it up and mix it with water until it is kind of runny, and then she loves to eat it that way.  Pretty much a big plate of gravy.  haha

[EchoSoul]

I use Halo pet food. The problem with going for "No-grain" is that it often means the company carb-loads their product, because carbs, due to their starch, is essential to make kibble what it is. Honestly, it's better your pet ingests a few, well though-out grains, than it is for them to digest carb-loaded ingredients like potatoes, corn, or white rice. Those are all high on the glycemic index, resulting in a sugar spike after eating. The whole sugar-spike thing didn't even occur to me until we started having to battle fleas - I used to feed our cats Wysong dry, but realized, due to the ingredients used for their starch, that the cats would get into a massive itch-fest after eating. Not that I'm trying to downgrade Wysong - they're a great company, VERY knowledgable, VERY insightful - but dry food just isn't their forte. So I swidtched to Halo pet food, and there's definitely not nearly the sugar spike after eating that I saw with the cats after eating their Wysong dry. There's a lot of raw-based pet foods like Natural Instinct(I've heard great reviews about it, but haven't tried it), Bravo, Wysong Uncanny(our cats loved it, but it's expensive), and Wysong Au Just all-meat cans(our cats LOVE the Duck, but aren't thrilled about the Rabbit). Lots of choices.

Our cats aren't picky, they've really liked the Wysong and they really like Halo.

Our one cat has a REALLY sensitive stomach, so I know how it is. If I don't give her JUST the smallest amount of new food, she'll get diahhrea.

Edit: OH! There's also Merrick. Our kitties liked those, too. They're great if your cat can't stand the pate style. Their cans are great because they specifically pay attention to low gylcemic values - several of their cans have won the "Low Gycemic" award.

[briannas auntie]

My cats really like Taste of the Wild dry cat food, and its grain free, no by-products, organic, and has fruits and veggies.  They have two kinds: one has venison and trout and the other has salmon and trout.  This can be bought at some feed stores and some natural health stores.  I get it at a natural pet food store here in WA.

As far as canned food, my cats like a variety of different brands of natural canned cat food.  They especially like Merrick Gourmet cat food and Tiki Cat canned food.  Both have no by products, have veggies and fruits (the Tiki Cat doesn't have fruits), and they are in small cans, so there is less waste if the cat won't eat it.  Another one you might try is Natural Balance canned cat food.  This one is good for finicky cats, according to the store I get my kitties food from. 

Its best to give a cat both canned and dry food, instead of just dry food.  I give my cats canned food 3 times a week, and they know exactly what days they get it on. LOL!

If you go to www.onlynaturalpet.com, they have all sorts of natural pet foods that your cat might like.  This is where I first got some of my cats canned food before I found a nearby store that sold it.

Jessie

[briannas auntie]

Originally Posted by NikonMama 

One of my cats does that unless I buy pate only style.  If there are any chunks she won't eat the chunks, just the gravy.  I mash it up and mix it with water until it is kind of runny, and then she loves to eat it that way.  Pretty much a big plate of gravy.  haha

Man, my cats are the opposite.  They like anything with chunks in it, especially chicken chunks.  They also like the chunks of veggies in the natural canned cat foods.

Jessie